Original Hotels

The Welcome Hotel is located in Brussels, Belgium. This artsy hotel is filled with many decorations, art masterpieces and ornaments designed in various styles.

Rooms and prices.

There is a total of 17 rooms at the hotel. Each room is a double room with its own bathroom and an individual décor. There are rooms decorated with designs typical of a country or a region, such as Congo, Japan, Kenya and Vietnam. Tribal masks and country maps decorate the walls of each room. These rooms cost 135€ per night.

There are several Deluxe rooms which can either have a bathroom with a bathtub or a bathroom with a jacuzzi for two. The India Room has several statues of Ganesha and Shiva. The Bali room is decorated with hand crafted furniture and wooden crafts on the walls. The Tahiti room is made of bamboo and decorated with images of tropical birds. The Deluxe rooms cost 155€ per night.

The Suites have a kingsize bed, a bathroom with a jacuzzi and a shower, a separate living room and a balcony. There are several suites, such as the India Suite and the Silk Road Suite. The Belgian suite is a family room with two bedrooms and a living room that has an area for prams, and can accommodate up to five people. Price is 200€ per night in a suite and 240€ per night in a family suite.

Breakfast.

Guests will be able enjoy a buffet breakfast. The buffet serves cold meats, soups, several types of freshly baked bread and pastries, fresh fruit, coffee, cocoa and tea.

Extra services.

In the lobby guests will be able to buy theatre tickets and tickets for guided tours around the city. The is WiFi available for guests and an Internet corner with computers and photocopying machines which is open all day.

Events.

The hotel can organize celebrations and events. Guests will be able to rent one of the several halls at the hotel, and the hotel can provide a catering service for the event, search for a photographer and transport the guests from the hotel to the city.

Location.

The hotel is located in the centre of Brussels, near St. Catherine’s Square. Guests will be able to visit some of the city’s most emblematic landmarks and monuments, such as the European neighborhood dedicated to the European Union, and the Grote Market, one of the city’s most centric squares.

The Art Factory Hostel is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city. This hostel is located in the centre of the city, and its clean and modern rooms together with a colourful interior design make this one of the best places to stay for those travelling on a budget, in groups and those visiting the city for a couple of days.

The hostel has several types of rooms. Some of the rooms have a shared bathroom, but for a small extra fee guests will be able to have a room with a private bathroom. There are individual, double and triple rooms, as well as large dormitories for larger groups.

Each room has an individual design, since each one of them was painted and decorated by a different group of artists who each had their own take on the décor. This concept has transformed this centric hostel in a boutique hostel.

The shared dorms are decorated with street art such as graffiti and murals, and cost around 9€ per bed, which comes with bed linen and towels. An individual room with a shared bathroom costs 22€ per night, while an individual room with a private bathroom costs 27€ per night.

The double rooms can either have two individual beds or a double bed, and each one of these rooms has a different theme. A double room without a bathroom costs 27€ per night, while a double room with a private bathroom costs 35€ per night.

Triple rooms are slightly larger and have three individual beds. A triple bedroom with a shared bathroom costs 33€ per night, and a triple bedroom with a private bathroom costs 39€ per night.

Prices include bed linen and towels, and a continental breakfast served at the hostel. There is WiFi in all bedrooms, and the hostel’s common areas have fast Internet connection.

The hostel has its own bar and a terrace. There is cable television in the common areas. Check out is at 11 am, although guests can leave their luggage at the hostel if they still some time to enjoy the city before their departure. There is a large kitchen where guests can cook their own meals, and fresh fruit is provided at breakfast. The hostel has a library filled with books and magazines. Guests can hire a transfer service from and to the airport.

The hostel regularly organizes football competitions and guests can rent bicycles for touring the city. Depending on the day, the hostel can organize Spanish lessons or tango classes.

The hostel organizes theme nights. Several days a week guests will be able to enjoy an authentic Argentinian steak, and vegetarian options are provided for non carnivore guests. On other nights guests will enjoy live music by local independent bands and classical  film nights. Guests can participate in the Caminata Secreta, a guided walking tour across the historical streets of the San Telmo district.

The hostel is an artistic place strategically positioned for those guests who want to discover Buenos Aires at their ow pace. Every corner of the hostel was designed by a different group of artists, architects and designers. The hostel is located in one of the cities most centric districts, San Telmo, a contemporary and colonial neighbourhood with vintage shops, art galleries and places of historical interest.

The hostel is located in the centric district of San Telmo. Only a five minute walk away is the Plaza de Mato, which is considered the city’s main square. The hotel is communicated with the rest of the city by two nearby metro stations. Nearby guests will find Plaza Dorrego, a square where outdoor markets and market fairs are organized every weekend. A short walk away from the hotel guests will find many bars and restaurants, many of which organize live tango and music shows. Puerto Madero, the city’s most chic area, is a short distance away. San Telmo can be considered one of the most artistic barrios in the city, where art galleries, temporary exhibitions and permanent museums can be found within walking distance.

Helga’s Folly Sri Lankan Home is a rather eccentric hotel in Kandy, a city in Sri Lanka. This original hotel is full of modern facilities clashing with unusual architectural designs, bright eclectic colours and a mix of many different styles.

The creator of this unusual hotel is Helga. Helga’s mother, Esme, is an artist and designer, while her father, Edmond Frederick Lorenz De Silva was a politician, a member of parliament and an ambassador. Her grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings were also very prominent politicians, womens’ rights activists and artists. Helga was responsible for turning the stately family mansion into a curious hotel, and she was in charge of the tropical decorations that cover the mansion from head to toe, as well as creating an interesting juxtaposition between madness and life which is present in the hotel’s décor.

Helga’s Folly is a large compound formed by several red buildings hiding in the trees, and looks like a fairy tale home in a world where everything is upside down. The walls are painted in all the colours of the rainbow and are shaped in different waves, and hold many newspaper clippings, pictures and drawings which tell the viewer the history of the hotel. This hotel is a popular haunt for the artiest citizens of the world, since many painters, actors, singers and the like have been inspired by the mad atmosphere of this hotel.

The hotel was built during the third decade of the XXth Century, and originally it was a large family mansion. Later on, the mansion underwent a radical transformation which symbolizes the more traditional aspects of Sri Lanka and the innovation of art. The hotel is located only 10 minutes away from what used to be the ancient Kandy Kingdom, full of palaces, castles andreligious temples.

The hotel stands on a hill overlooking the jungle, and is only a short distance away from several famous landmarks. Those landmarks include the Anuradhapura, Polanaruwa, Sigiriya and Nuwaraelita temples. The hotel also offers excursions to Hunasgiriya and the Knuckle mountains, as well as several natural landmarks.

The hotel consists of a large main mansion with a living room, two triple rooms with bathroom, a dining room and several terraces, as well as several apartments. The Colombo apartments have a large visitors’ lounge and a dining hall with a balcony, as well as a main bedroom with two double our poster beds and an ensuite bathroom with a Jacuzzi. There are also two extra guest rooms decorated in a lavish antique style, as well as a closet with chandeliers, a small kitchenette and several wardrobes covered in mirrors.

Helga’s Folly is decorated with art nouveau ornaments and has 40 rooms. There are several types of rooms, such as Standard, Deluxe and Superior rooms, as well as a large suite. All rooms have air conditioning, a double bed, a private bathroom and a balcony with views towards the Kandy Valley. All rooms have an individual design full of decorations that date from several different centuries and there are many brightly coloured sculptures throughout the hallways.

Some of the rooms have easily recognizable themes, such as the A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof room. Another room is family friendly and is full of DVDs and books for children. Yet another room has a distinctly hippie look around it with the flower power décor seen in the 1960’s. One room has a darker feel around it, since it is painted in dark colours and has several Gothic candles and black designs.

The Nutcracker Suite is undoubtedly the best suite at the hotel. It has a separate living room, an enormous master bedroom with a double four-poster bed, a luxurious en suite bathroom and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Price per night varies according to the type of room and the dates. A Standard room is prices at about 133€ per night, while Double room costs 140€ per night and a triple room costs around 152€ per night.

This hotel offers its guests comfortable lodgings, many activities and the possibility to relax. There is laundry service at the hotel, and the hotel offers its guests the option to pick them up from and leave them at the airport.

Most of the decorations at this hotel are antique artefacts from every corner of the world, such as India, Sri Lanka, The Netherlands or Great Britain. All rooms have painted walls which are covered in photographs, high ceilings and a unique décor in each room.

The hotel’s garden has many trees and curious plants. Many monkeys and cats like to take long walks amongst the lush gardens. The large pavilion on the territory has been transformed into a tea house and many guests choose that spot in order to relax while watching exotic birds fly by.

The hotel also has a large swimming pool. In the nearby building there are seven dining rooms, all of which have beautiful views of the jungle. Guests will also be able to enjoy the traditional bar and restaurant on one of the floors, or else visit the library or the quiet room. One of the common rooms also holds a large collection of DVDs, most of which show 1930’s films which can be viewed in the hotel’s own cinema.

The hotel also has a traditional restaurant. The restaurant specializes in the most traditional regional cuisine, and its menu is full of different types of meat, fish, noodles and vegetables, all of them accompanied by many different savoury sauces. The ingredients used are all organic ingredients from ecologically friendly farms. Many main courses are prepared with the many spices that grown directly in the hotel gardens, and many desserts are made from the hand made jams and sweet sauces that are made at the hotel. Guests will also have the opportunity to taste some local cocktails and the best tea from the Agarsland region.

During many years, the hotel has been a popular choice of many celebrities who have come to this hotel in order to relax from the paparazzi and enjoy the upside down world that reigns at Helga’s Folly Home. Some of the most famous visitors have included Vivian Leigh, Sir Laurence Olivier, William Holden, Gregory Peck, Sir Alec Guinness, Zandra Rhodes, Paula Yates, Mahatma Gandhi himself, Nehru or even Indira Gandhi. Even Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics stayed here and was inspired to write a song, Madam Helga, about this curious Sri Lankan hotel.

The Bloom! Hotel is a lovely hotel in Brussels, in Belgium. This curious hotel has 302 spacious rooms, where even the smallest rooms, with an area of 30 square metres, has enough space for a sleeping and a working area. All rooms at this boutique hotel have curious and unique decorations.

There are several types of rooms which vary in size, starting from the small L! rooms to the much larger XXL! rooms. All rooms are double rooms with a private bathroom, a double bed or two twin beds and a working area with a desk, a chair and an ergonomic chair. Price per room varies according to its size, but the minimum price is around 62€ for a small room per night.

Some of these rooms also have special facilities. Some rooms are designed for people with limited mobility, while others can be adapted for families and children, and some are usually used by celebrities who want to avoid the press.

Each room has a large double bed, an office space, Internet access, a safe, a large flat TV screen which can also be used for listening to music, a Senseo coffee machine, a small fridge and even some small details such as comfortable armchairs and footstools. From some of the rooms, guests will be able to enjoy panoramic views of the city towards famous monuments such as the Grand Palace Tower, the Koekelberg Basilica or the Atomium.

All rooms have a unique style with different decorations, frescoes and a personal theme. One of the most intricately designed rooms is Room 201 L!, where white walls are covered with a monochrome, black and white theme. Another curious room is Room 208 L!, painted in golden colours that remind one of the autumn season. Room 301 is an organic room, painted in both smooth and shiny colours, while Room 303 is solely dedicated to airport symbolism. Room 424 is full of flowers painted in light blue, creating a very rustic, natural atmosphere, while Room 427 has walls peppered with small rose petals.

All XL! rooms are spacious rooms which have two comfortable armchairs designed specifically for the comfort of their guests. Room 535 has walls decorated with an abstract mural painted in several different colours and representing the roots of flowers, while Room 536 has immaculately white walls with a fresco of a single flower exploding in several colours.

The XXL! rooms are larger than the rest, with more working space, the ideal place for workaholics. Along two joined twin beds, this space also has a sofa bed. The most interesting XXL! rooms are Room 701, with vibrant green walls, and the conceptual Room 714, covered with coloured walls and complex geometric shapes.

This hotel also has several other types of accommodation, such as lofts. The lofts are duplex rooms with a large walk in wardrobe on the ground floor and a bedroom with a bathroom on the top floor. One of the lofts, Room 824, has a vibrant decoration full of clashing colours with a breathtaking atmosphere, and all other lofts also have their own, unique signature.

Most rooms have a common theme. Even the name of the hotel, Bloom!, hints at what one will be able to see there, so it comes as no surprise that most rooms have murals depicting different flowers. Some murals in some rooms are conceptual art, while others have a more minimalist style or a fantasy theme. All rooms have been designed by students from ELIA, the European League of the Institutes of the Arts, an organization which works with more than 350 art schools in around fifty different countries. The walls are covered in frescoes, pictures or graffiti of flowers, plants, symbolism or curious designs. Even the smallest details follow each room’s theme, since the tea cups in each room also have a similar design to the rooms.

The hotel also has 1300 square metres of recently renovated meeting space, where guests can host business meeting or conferences. The twelve conference rooms are spread out between three floors. Some conference rooms are larger than others, and all have plenty of natural light,  coffee, tea and water served at all hours, as well as a Meeting Lounge designed for taking small breaks. All rooms have Internet access, large flatscreens, projectors and comfortable chairs specifically designed for work. The largest room, known as the Forum, has 430 square metres and is ideal for all kinds of events.

Hotel Bloom! is located in the centre of Brussels, a place where guests can relax with plenty of natural light, ergonomic furniture and a pleasant atmosphere. The hotel is only a short walk away from the major business districts and the more commercial areas full of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and restaurants.

The Cartuja de Cazalla hotel is a small and slightly unusual hotel in an ancient charterhouse in Cazalla de la Sierra, in Seville, Spain. The century old Carthusian monastery used to belong to the Order of the Carthusians, and is located in the Northern Sierra of Seville.

The hotel is located in a very quiet and picturesque place. The historical monastery was built on a natural plateau, which in turn has thick walls and a 30 mere cliff guarding its perimeter. Those tourists who would like to stay here will have the best views of the Sierra Morena, and will enjoy sundowns and sunrises from the very heart of the Sevillian Sierra.

Near the hotel, tourists can find a natural water source and enjoy the amazing views around them. This site is considered to be a site of historical importance, since centuries ago it was a holy place for religious gatherings. Studies have managed to confirm that this site already existed before the Phoenicians opened the Silver Route. Nearby, one can still find the ruins of antique mosques and houses dating from the VIIIth Century, as well as some old mills.

The old building where the hotel is now used to be a mosque, and later on became a hunting house for the King. By the start of the XVth century, the building became the Monastery of the Jeronimos, and by the end of the XVth Century, the monastery became the Monastery of the Carthusian Order. The small decorated chapel then became known as the Pilgrim Chapel.

In the 1970’s, the building was bought, and was conserved as an historic building which housed the Center of Contemporary Art and Culture. It wasn’t until years later that the building was transformed into a small and comfortable hotel.

The hotel has a total of four suites in the monastery, as well as two individual rooms and eight double rooms in a small annex called the Hospederia. Each bedroom has its own ensuite bathroom and comfortable furniture. Another house on the hotels territory, the Gardeners House, is ideal for accommodating large families or groups, and has two bedrooms, a large living room, a kitchen and a bathroom.

Price per night can vary depending on the type of room or the season. An individual room costs 50€ per night, while a double room costs 80€ per night. Each suite costs 120€ per night, while the Gardeners House, which can accommodate up to five people, costs 300€ a night. Each extra bed costs 17€. However, prices can change, and cost per night is lower after the first night.

The hotel also has its own restaurant, where one can try and savour the best local meals. Most of the products used are ecologic, including poultry, meat, eggs and even vegetables, which grow in the hotel gardens.

This historic place also offers its guests many entertainment options. Guests can take long walks around the countryside, watch the sundowns and sunrises, and relax in the hotel garden. This hotel also organizes several art exhibits and even has a concert room. The hotel also has its own art gallery which has several different art collections by various local artists, and guests can enjoy arts and crafts classes. Guests can also participate in activities such as swimming in the hotel pool or horseriding.

The Hotel Residenza D’Arte is a romantic and poetic luxury hotel in Italy. The hotel follows an art theme and has several paintings exhibited in its halls, and many different art expositions take place in this hotel. The Residenza D’Arte is an original hotel ideal for those who enjoy the tranquility of the Italian countryside and who want to relax amongst the many art paintings that fill the hotel’s walls.

As one steps into this magical hotel one immediately realizes that this hotel lives and breathes art. This artistic and unusual hotel is located near Sienna, and the rustic building is flanked by hundred year old olive trees.

The hotel can be found on a hill full of cypress and olive trees, a rather inspiring panorama for the many artists who designed this hotel. The reception hall is a grand hall with wooden tables and carved chairs, stone walls and sculptures that decorate the walls. The rooms are designed in a variety of styles, colors and shapes. The hotel also has its own park, ideal for those who like taking long walks or who enjoy painting.

The hotel has three different types of rooms, each one with its own particular paintings and its own bathroom. Prices can vary between 400 and 550€ per night. The Junior Rooms are a set of comfortable rooms full of paintings and all the necessary comforts for a luxurious stay. The Superior Rooms are larger rooms with their own entrance hall and all kinds if luxurious details. The Suites are more like a set of luxurious apartments with two big rooms and a living room connected by a wide hall.

The hotel is exquisitely decorated with a large variety of  paintings in may different styles, sculptures, arches, marble floors and stone walls, all of which have been recently renovated. Each room has a double bed, a renovated bathroom, a fridge and a plasma TV, and most of the rooms have their own private entrance from the small park.

The Hotel Residenza D’Arte offers its guests a wide range of services and activities. One can enjoy a guided excursion to the charming neighboring town of Torrita di Siena, a XIVth Century town. Guests can also participate in painting and cooking classes, go on trips around Siena, relax on weekends at the Montepulciano spa, enjoy horse riding or bicycle routes, as well as renting luxury cars and visiting Siena, Montepulciano, Montalcino and Chianti.

Furthermore, fashion lovers are in for a treat. Only 45 minutes away from the hotel one can find the best outlet shops of the most exclusive Italian brand names, such as Gucci, Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Agnona, Bottega Veneta, Ermenegildo Zegna and Salvatore Ferragamo, amongst many others. One can buy their products at a 70% discount rate and hire a chauffeur who will transport them to and from the hotel.

The Qbic hotel chain has three different hotels in three different Benelux cities. Those three curious and low budget hotels are located in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Maastricht.

All three Qbic hotels are low cost hotels designed by a group of artists, and they are ideal for groups who want to stay in those cities for a couple of days. Price per person per night starts from 69€, including all taxes, but guests are encouraged to book in advance since there may be lower fares.

Each room, called a “Cubi“, has a rather futuristic design and is shaped like a slightly distorted cube. Each room has a Hästens bed, designed by Philippe Starck, a plasma TV, a security box and Internet access. Each Cubi also has a different set of lights that can change the colour of the room depending on the guest’s preferences.

The hotel also has a range of touch screen computers in its hallways where guests can search for entertainment options, such as the movies at the cinema, the shows at the theatre or the restaurant where they would like to have dinner. Moreover, both the reception and the check in are also digitalized, which means that guests will not have to wait in a queue to check themselves in and only have to pick the key up at the reception.

In the lobby we can find Grab&co, a small establishment where new painters, decorators and designers can experiment with art. Here we can find all types of vending machines, some selling home made food brought from a local bakery by catering, while others sell objects for personal hygiene and clothes.

The hotel chain has three hotel in three different cities. Qbic Hotel Amsterdam is located in the city’s financial district, while Qbic Hotel Antwerp is in the very heart of the city center, as is Qbic Hotel Maastricht, which is comfortably surrounded by small coffee shops.

The Fox Hotel is an interesting project started by 21 young artists from different countries in Denmark. The hotel has 61 rooms designed by the 21 artists, and each one of them is a display of different types of urban art and graphic design.

The hotel is located in the center of Copenhagen. Some of the rooms remind us of the best of urban art, while others are fully dedicated to Japanese Manga style. Each room has its own name and themes, such as the Japanese Garden room, Sensuality room or the King’s Forest room. All rooms are decorated according to the main theme, with pictures and paintings and graffiti filling every available space and surface. The walls in each one of the dormitories are fully decorated with images of fairies, friendly monsters and hidden treasures.

All rooms are non smoking rooms. Each room has an individual or double bed, a bathroom and all kinds of details designed to make the guests’ stay more comfortable. Price per night is around 125€. A couple of larger rooms are available for families or groups.

Breakfast is served at the hotel restaurant, which is open from 7 to 10 a.m. on weekdays and from 8 to 11 a.m. on weekends. Price per person is 17€. The main restaurant, called Sushitreat, opens at 16.30 and is famous for its excellent sushi dishes.

All rooms have Internet access and plasma TV’s which can also be used as computer monitors. There is also a curious collection of “Minibags” in the minibar next to the drinks and food, and each bag has a specific theme, such as the “Hangover Bag”, especially designed to alleviate headaches.

Visitors at this hotel can always read the free international press found at the lobby or go to the hotel bar for a drink. From there and the rooftop terrace guests can enjoy the panoramic views of the city, though if they want to actually see the city they can always rent a bicycle and an iPod at the hotel.

The Künstlerheim Luise Hotel is a rather curious hotel in Berlin, Germany. The guests of this hotel have a rather unique opportunity to live and sleep amongst various art pieces in their art themed rooms.

This hotel has fifty rooms, each one with its own bathroom. Each one of the rooms was designed by a different artist, and the hotel subsidizes all of the painters and decorators that made each room unique. The artists who worked on each room receive a percentage of revenue that their room generated, and have the right to stay there for free.

Each one of the fifty rooms enjoys a rather personal style, and each one has a different theme. Price per night varies between 120€ and 150€, but it can change depending on the season. The hotel also has its own restaurant, the Habel, where visitors can taste traditional regional dishes and the best wine.

The hotel is located in the center of the city, in a grand classic building that dates from the XIXth Century. The hotel used to be a residential building that was abandoned, and by 1984 it was transformed in a hotel with shops. Years later, another building was added to the compound, and a patio was formed.

The reception hall is usually decorated with new art works and houses new art exhibitions each time, something that distinguishes the hotel amongst its competitors. Even though the facades have not changed since 1825, several major reformations have managed to change the classical style building into a monument to modern art.

The hotel is located in the heart of the city, near Tiergarten Park and the Spree River. Near the hotel, one can find the famous Reichstag, the Friedrichstrasse and Unter den Linden streets and the great Brandemburg Tör.

The Tokyo Palace is located in an historic 1937 building in Paris. This building usually hosts a variety of cultural expositions and is located in the very heart of Paris. The Tokyo Palace was built specifically for the Universal Exposition and is near the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysées.

Inside, or rather on top of the Tokyo Palace, one can find the Everland Hotel, right on top of the roof. The hotel isn’t a commercial hotel, but is one dedicated to innovation and culture. Every single detail is designed by well known designers whos main objetive is to show that innovation and art blend in together.

From the hotel room the guests can enjoy spectacular views of Paris, and one can lie down and see the Eiffel Tower glowing in front of them, a headlight to the vast city that spreads before it’s feet. The interior of the hotel itself has been carefully designed by leading artists in contemporary art and interior design, as well as using the very best materials to complete this little masterpiece.

The Everland Hotel guests can stay in a room that definitely has the best views of the city. In the morning, the guests are served an exclusive breakfast at dawn. Even the bathroom itself is quite on the unusual side, since its innovative and even slightly futuristic design has managed to captivate the attention of every visitor. The panoramic landscpae of the city and an interesting, colourful and curved design make this curious hotel an irresistible place to stay at.

The Everland Hotel is a small nomadic hotel which is constantly moving around. Price per night at such a kingly hotel is around 444€. This hotel has previously been in other locations, such as Yverdon or Leipzig. The most curious thing of all is that one has to reserve the hotel with several months in advance, and the reservation page only appears at several different times in a day. Furthermore, the hotel moves every one or two years, and one has to pay a lot of attention and find out the exact dates that the hotel is in a particular city.